Adam Driver tries to jump off a building in Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis movie teaser trailer  

The trailer of Francis Ford Coppola's epic science fiction epic Megalopolis gave a compelling look into the director's latest filmmaking visions. Coppola's last major film, Twixt, was released in 2011, marking a 13-year gap between his previous work and this project.

Megalopolis is scheduled to make its world premiere on May 17, 2024, at the Cannes Film Festival, where it will vie for the esteemed Palme d'Or. Adam Driver plays Cesar in the teaser, an idealistic architect who wants to recreate a utopian city that looks like New York.

Its official synopsis as per IMDb reads—

"An architect wants to rebuild New York City as a utopia following a devastating disaster."

In one of the film's most dramatic scenes, Adam Driver's character Caesar stands on the edge of a huge skyscraper while clouds float by on the faraway horizon.

The rest of the ensemble cast, which also includes Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Dustin Hoffman, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne, and Kathryn Hunter, was revealed the year after Driver's participation in the movie was confirmed in 2022.

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Adam Driver in Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis teaser trailer

With Adam Driver playing the architect, the teaser trailer offers a sneak peek at the vast scale and complex ties central to the plot of the film. The teaser shows Caeser looks down at a busy road, filled with cars and other vehicles. But what may not have caught the attention of many viewers, is that the upper part of the screen, which has the vehicles on the road, is still.

The traffic stops until Adam Driver's character snaps his fingers, at which point all the cars start moving again. Megalopolis' overarching story, which tackles themes of civilization on the verge of collapse and the fight to revive it, includes this scene.

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More about Francis Ford Coppola's film Megalopolis

Adam Driver plays an architect in the movie who, after a tragic incident, wants to rebuild a utopian city that looks like New York. The architect and Giancarlo Esposito's portrayal of the dishonest mayor, who rejects the architect's ideas for the city, clash throughout the narrative.

Moreover, the film features Nathalie Emmanuel as the mayor's daughter, who is conflicted about her feelings for her father and the architect. The film has a more intimate quality because Coppola dedicated it to his late wife Eleanor.

He wrote on Instagram—

"Megalopolis has always been a film dedicated to my dear wife Eleanor. I really had hoped to celebrate her birthday together this May 4th. But sadly that was not to be, so let me share with everyone a gift on her behalf."

With a $120 million budget, the self-financed Megalopolis is scheduled to make its Cannes Film Festival debut. The film was a long-term passion project for Coppola, who first had the idea in 1979 and began actively developing it in 1983.

Over the years, it experienced several setbacks and cancellations, but in 2019 he brought the project back to life by investing $120 million of his own funds. Production on the film took place from November 2022 to March 2023.

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It has been confirmed that Paul Rassam, a longtime Coppola collaborator, is involved in Megalopolis and that Le Pacte has acquired its French distribution rights.